


The Ansett Island Players

by duchessofthemoonbase



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Based off of that one Avatar episode, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, The play's the thing!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25169953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duchessofthemoonbase/pseuds/duchessofthemoonbase
Summary: While on a mission, Rey and Poe are tempted into seeing a First Order play based off of their adventures.But when it comes to their relationship, the actors decide to take some…creative liberties.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 28
Kudos: 56





	The Ansett Island Players

**Author's Note:**

> Set between TLJ and TROS.
> 
> I finished up ATLA this week and as I was watching the Ember Island Players episode this plot bunny took over my soul and this happened.

Ansett Island was a bore.

I mean, technically it wasn’t, Rey supposed—the island was home to a bustling city, a vibrant culture, thriving nightlife—but it was also crawling with stormtroopers and populated with First Order sympathizers. Leia had made it extremely clear that they were forbidden from wandering into the city while on their mission.

Which meant that Rey, Finn, Rose, and Poe were stuck sitting in their tent on the outskirts of the city for the third day in a row, waiting for a contact from Ansett Island’s underground resistance movement to come and meet them. The boredom was starting to make them all cranky.

“We could play sabacc again?” Poe suggested, leaning back on his sleeping bag. Rose had snuck into town to get some food, and they were starting to get impatient waiting for her to return.

“I’ve played enough sabacc for this lifetime,” Finn said. “I’m so bored that I almost wish we were on one of those missions where we’re constantly getting shot at.”

Rey was just about to give up on finding an activity to occupy her time and simply go to sleep; when Rose came barreling into the tent, her eyes wide with excitement.

“You guys are _not_ going to believe this!” she practically squealed, passing out the rations she’d stolen. She was holding a rolled up piece of paper tightly in one hand. “Guess what this is!?”

“What?” Poe deadpanned, and they watched as she unrolled the paper, revealing a brightly printed poster.

The poster had _THE JEDI AND HER ACCOMPLICES_ splashed in bright red letters across the top, and below that was a drawing of what looked like the four of them with menacing expressions, Rey holding up a blue lightsaber while the rest of them yielded blasters.

“No,” Finn said. “Absolutely not.”

“It’s tonight!” Rose said, practically jumping up and down. “And the theater is only a mile away from here! We have to go!”

“No way,” Finn said. “Even in disguises, it’s way too dangerous. And besides, Leia said—”

Poe shrugged. “Leia’s not here. She doesn’t have to know.”

“She’ll know if we get _killed_ , Poe!”

“Come on, you guys!” Rose pleaded. “How are you not curious to see a play _about yourselves_?”

“I kind of want to go,” Rey said, shrugging.

“Me too,” Poe added.

“The egos on you two, I swear,” Finn said.

“I mean,” Poe joked. “We are the last Jedi and the best pilot in the resistance, sooo…”

“So you guys are in?” Rose asked.

They nodded, and then all looked over at Finn, sitting crankily in the corner.

“You’ve been outvoted, buddy,” Poe said.

“Fine,” Finn said. “But disguises stay on _the whole time—_ the whole time!”

Rose reached out and hugged him. “You won’t regret this!” Rose screeched excitedly, and they sat down to get to work on their disguises.

***

Since Finn and Rose had gotten together they’d been inseparable, which usually meant that they walked hand in hand, Poe and Rey trailing behind them, making jokes at the sheer amount of mushiness before them.

She liked walking with Poe, the easy camaraderie between them, their inside jokes and the slightly flirty competitive streak they had going. They both knew what if felt like to carry so much weight on their shoulders during the day, and to fear the terrors that sometimes came at night. Their friendship had grown deeper in the months since she’d first met him after Crait, and sometimes it teetered on the edge of…well, the edge of something else. All those moments…like when their hands touched when they piloted the falcon; or when Poe stared at her just a little too long, something more profound hiding behind his gaze…

She’d be lying if she said she’d never thought about him like…well, like the way Finn and Rose thought about each other. But he was Poe Dameron, and she was Rey, just Rey, and there was a war to fight. The last thing they needed were more complications.

Three red moons glowed over their heads as they continued to make their way through town, dodging street vendors and children running in the streets, their cloaks pulled firmly over their heads.

“I’m kind of excited,” Poe said, ducking out of the sight of a patrolling stormtrooper as they made their way across the road to the theater. “I think it might be sort of interesting to see us portrayed as villains, don’t you think?”

“Easy for you to say,” Finn said, rolling his eyes. “You were never forced into being one.”

The rest of them frowned, unsure of what to say. None of them had ever really considered the possibility that this play might breach topics that they preferred to leave in the past—but it was too late now. Rose slammed a few credits on the counter, and they got their tickets. They crept in the side door, hiding behind their cloaks, and found seats at the very back of the room.

“Question,” Rose said. “How does the First Order know so much about our lives, anyway?”

Rey squinted at the playbill in her hands. “It says ‘interviews with a surprisingly knowledgeable koyo melon vendor’.”

“Huh.”

They sat back in their seats as an announcer came on to deliver news (all First Order propaganda, and most of it lies) and waited for the play to begin. Rey glanced to where Poe was seated at her left, and he looked back at her and smiled. She turned away and blushed.

The lights dimmed and the curtains were drawn back, revealing a landscape of endless sand.

“One guess where this is,” Finn snarked, and Rose elbowed him.

An actress was lying on the barren landscape, groaning with her hand on her stomach. “I’m so hungry!” she shouted out, far more cheerily than any starving person should. “I sure wish someone would come and save me!”

A man in a stormtrooper costume entered from the left side of the stage, taking off his helmet and pulling her up to her feet.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m a traitor to the First Order. I left behind a good and glorious life as a soldier to come to the desert and walk around aimlessly. And then I found you.”

She heard Finn groan to her right. “I hate you,” he whispered to Rose, and she laughed.

“Thank you, kind sir!” the actress playing Rey practically squealed in gratitude. “What should we do now!?”

The stage Finn made a menacing face. “We’re going to blow up Starkiller Base.”

“But why?” the stage Rey sighed dramatically. “It’s the most powerful and impressive weapon ever built in the galaxy, and the First Order is using it to protect us! We can’t!”

“Well, we’re going to find the Resistance, and we’re going to.”

Rey watched as the other versions of Finn and Rey wandered off stage, the set morphing into a less-than-impressive looking Resistance base.

“Maker,” Poe muttered from behind his hands. “ _I_ could write better propaganda than this.”

A middle-aged woman in heavy makeup came out into the center of the stage, their version of Leia, wearing her old white dress from the Rebellion days and cackling. They watched as she gave a villainous monologue, one that started with her overzealously complimenting both her father and her son, and ended with her commanding the Resistance to blow up Starkiller, for no reason other than the whim of her madness.

“But _who_ is to lead this mission?” one of the Resistance fighters asked pointedly, and Leia just smiled.

“Poe Dameron, of course. The mostly deadly pilot alive.”

At that moment, their version of Poe sauntered onto stage, looking equal parts suave and ridiculous. His hair was massive, and he wore skintight pants and a white shirt that was mostly unbuttoned. The man playing him had to be at least six feet tall, with muscles so huge they probably bordered on unhealthy.

“Hello, General,” he said in a deep voice, and then looked over at the other extras on stage. “ _Ladies_.”

Finn and Rose were in absolute hysterics.

“Shut up,” Poe whispered.

Rey shrugged and giggled. “Hey, we didn’t say anything.”

The stage Poe walked up to Leia with concern on his face. “I can handle leading the ships in,” he said. “But who is going to fight Kylo Ren?”

“Not to worry,” Leia said. “We’ve just found two new recruits—a stormtrooper who defected, and a desert girl with force powers. We’re going to train her to fight my son.” The door opened, and Rey and Finn walked in. “Here they are.”

The Rey on stage walked right up to Poe, sauntering her hips all the way. “ _Hello_ ,” she said, reaching out to shake his hand. “I’m Rey. Aren’t you handsome?”

Poe grinned back at her. “I know.”

Meanwhile, in the back of the theater, the real Poe was sunk halfway down in his seat, groaning with embarrassment as Rose and Finn continued laughing.

“After this war is over, baby,” the stage Poe crooned, leaning over Rey seductively. “You and I should get away from here and have some time alone…”

“Mmm…” Rey said, feeling up his biceps. “I’d like that a lot. Is it true you have the best hair in the Resistance?”

“You bet I do, baby.”

Now Rey was sinking into her seat too, grateful that the dark lights were hiding how red her face probably was.

“So, um,” Poe whispered to her. “That’s…”

“Yeah,” she said.

The scene changed to one in which Rey, Poe, Finn, Rose, and Leia ran down a street in a peaceful village, burning down First Order flags and quite literally kicking down children’s sandcastles and stealing their candy while they cried. The scene ended with a dashing version of Kylo Ren coming to save the day, scaring the Resistance members away with his red lightsaber, and the audience cheered.

“How many sandcastles do you think were on Hosnian Prime?” Finn deadpanned. “Ridiculous.”

Rose giggled. “Poe, can we talk about the fact that everyone in the First Order _clearly_ has a weird, twisted crush on you?”

“They do _not.”_

“They at least have a thing for your hair.”

“Ugh, Rose.”

“They’re gonna be so disappointed if they ever find out how tall you actually are,” she joked, as she and Finn burst into laughter again.

The next scene involved the Resistance fleet “blowing up” Starkiller Base. Well, they tried to, in this version, but the First Order version of the story maintained that an asteroid had hit it, disabling its function, so of course the First Order had demolished it afterwards (coincidentally right after the Resistance had made their attempt) so they could “build a better one”. There was no way they were letting their people believe a ragtag group of Resistance fighters had destroyed their weapon, _again,_ and as far as Rey could tell, everyone in the audience believed it.

“This is sickening,” Poe said, rolling his eyes, and Rey laughed. It looked like the onstage romance between her and Poe was over, so she could finally relax. She watched as the scene changed to a snowy forest, where she and Kylo Ren began to battle each other. The onstage Rey was barely even trying, her arms waving about as she stumbled away from Kylo, a cardboard lightsaber in her hands. Suddenly, Kylo lunged forward, stabbing her in the side, and she fell to the ground.

“They at _least_ could have had the decency to put me in this scene,” Finn said.

“Hey! All I got to do was steal candy from a baby!” Rose complained.

“Point is,” Rey said. “This is definitely not what happened.”

The music grew grim as the Rey on stage lay in the forest, holding the wound on her side.

“Am I _dying!?”_ Rey exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat. “Nuh uh, no way.”

Just as the light was about to leave Rey’s eyes, someone else walked onto stage—Poe.

He ran to her side, sobbing dramatically as he saw her lying on the ground. “Let me help,” he gasped. He ripped his shirt off, muscles bulging, and the audience squealed as Poe used the shirt to stop Rey’s bleeding.

“It’s no use,” she sighed, reaching up to touch his face. “I was no match for the great Kylo Ren. My injuries are too severe. I’m going to die, Poe.”

“Oh, give me a break,” Rose said. Rey just stared ahead, fascinated.

“You can’t die on me, baby,” Poe said. “I love you. You’re my everything.”

“I love you too, Poe Dameron.”

Rey tensed, trying her best to stare straight ahead at the stage, not daring to turn her head towards Poe; not daring to show any reaction.

Then the Poe on stage leaned over and kissed her passionately for what felt like a whole minute, a _deep_ kiss too, with tongue and moans and sighs as the dying Rey tugged at the huge mess of curls on his head, bringing her hands up to caress his bare torso.

Finn let out a giggle. “ _Damn,_ you guys,” he said.

Rey barely heard him. She was sunk too far deep in her seat.

***

Rey was grateful for the cloak to hide under as they walked through town back towards their tent, the crowds thinning out as the night wore on. She and Poe walked on opposite sides of Finn and Rose, who were holding hands at the center of the group.

They still hadn’t been able to look at each other.

Finn and Rose were still talking animatedly about the play, going over the highlights all the way until they reached the outskirts of town, where they finally reached the tent and were able to take off their cloaks.

Rey dropped her cloak to the floor, terrified to look up. When she did, she saw Poe was doing the same, watching his shoes with a bashful look on his face, his cheeks still slightly flushed.

“So,” Rose said, surveying the room. “Finn and I are going to…um, go wash up in the stream. We’ll be back in a bit.”

 _Kriff,_ Rey thought, watching with slight panic as they waved goodbye, leaving her and Poe alone, sitting on their sleeping bags.

“That was some play,” Poe said. “Although to be honest, you would think the First Order could get better propaganda writers than that.”

Rey nodded, still avoiding his eyes. “Everyone was so out of character.”

“Yeah,” Poe said. “You were nowhere near as badass as you actually are.”

“And I suppose you aren’t _that_ full of yourself,” Rey teased, and Poe let out a gentle laugh that nearly broke her heart.

A silence settled over the tent, and then Poe looked up at her, almost beseechingly, as his hands twisted together in his lap. “So, um,” he asked. “What did you think about, the um, the romance?”

Rey blushed. “Between me and you, you mean?”

“Yeah.”

“It was…funny.”

“Funny? Funny how?” Poe asked.

“I don’t know, it’s just not…not what I would have imagined,” she said, not realizing what she had let slip until the words had left her mouth.

“What did you imagine?” Poe asked, moving closer towards her, and she felt her face flush.

“Well I guess,” Rey said. “If we ever…if we were ever like that…it would be…softer. More real. More friendly…it would be warm, and happy. Not some…some ridiculous holonovel where you have bulging muscles and I die in your arms.”

Poe smiled. “Yeah,” he said. “I think you’re right.”

There was another silence, this one even heavier than the last, and Rey felt Poe take her hand, swiping his thumb lightly across her knuckles. “Would you…like it?” he asked softly, looking up at her. “If we were like that?”

Rey froze, briefly wondering if it were some sort of trick question, but she went ahead. “Yes,” she said. “I think…I think I would—if you wanted to.”

Poe lifted up her hand and kissed it so gently she could have cried. “I do, Rey,” he said. “I really want to.”

She smiled, beaming as Poe reached forward to wrap his arms around her. “You know,” he said. “The First Order has a lot of terrible ideas, but I think we can confirm that they had at least one good one.”

“Your hair?” Rey quipped.

“Yes,” Poe giggled, leaning in to kiss Rey on the cheek. “I was absolutely talking about my hair.”


End file.
